Monster Mash Birthday Bash

I have a “thing” for birthdays. Something about having one day a year, devoted to celebrating you and the day you arrived, just gets to me. Growing up, I expected my birthday to be special. Not over-the-top, fireworks, grand feast kind of special, but different from the normal day. A day where I could enjoy my breakfast with streamers and balloons over the kitchen table, an afternoon where my favorite candy bar and birthday message from mom was tucked into my lunch box, and an evening where I could chose dinner (and it never included a vegetable).

And when I became a mother, I knew I wanted nothing less for my children. I wanted their birthday parties done up right with balloons, crepe paper, and cupcakes slathered in too-much frosting.

What I didn’t plan on was the time, energy and creativity I would put into the parties… and how much I would love it all. Still, party planning has taught me a few things…

For starters, I learned that I am a sucker for a theme party. To date, our rap sheet includes:

Candyland– our birthday party debut in which I learned that cardboard, card stock, magic markers and a wee-bit of imagination can go a long way.

Sesame Street – the party in which we bought a projector in order to trace, and subsequently color, several Sesame Street characters. My husband then made me return the “too expensive” projector because we would “never use it again.”

Disney Princess– the party where we learned that with cardboard, anything is possible (we actually made a cardboard Cinderella’s carriage for photo ops), that buying a dress on Amazon and asking a friend to dress up like Snow White is much cheaper than hiring someone, and that the magic is in the details. (This is also the party where we re-bought the previously returned projector. Although the second time, we used a coupon).

Wizard of Oz– the party when I realized that it doesn’t matter if other people think I’m crazy or over-the-top. I do it for my children. And even if the other children haven’t seen the film and therefore to not appreciate/recognize the details; the surprise, wonder and excitement in my children’s eyes is worth the hours of gluing, cutting and creating.

Frozen Party– the party when I learned that choosing a main-stream theme does not guarantee that party stores will carry supplies, that sometimes paying the extra money and hiring a princess (or two) can be totally worth it, and decorating a few nights before can significantly decrease party-day stress.

And lastly, I do this just as much for me as I do for my children.

This weekend, we celebrated Xander’s first birthday. I know that he will never remember his first birthday. He will never remember the house adorned in balloons, he won’t remember the desserts that lined the dessert table and he surely won’t remember the nights I stayed up in order to create ‘just one more monster project.’ But I will. And someday when he is older, our family photos will serve as eyes to the past and he will be able to see what it is his Mommy did just for him. And I loved doing it.

There will come a day when my children won’t expect balloons and banners for their birthdays, when they will want to go out with friends (or… gasp… boyfriends/girlfriends) for their birthday dinner, and when they will be away at college for their birthdays. But for now, I can do their birthday’s up big and give them a shred of the birthday magic that I felt on the day that they were born.

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This year was a new ballgame for me. I have never thrown a BOY birthday party before. In the past, our parties were coated in glitter, glitz and sparkle.

But our ~~little~~ big boy needed something a little more rough and tumble. Something all-boy. Truth be told, I had the Monster Party theme picked out well before he was 9 months old. It just seemed Xander-esq. But at my husband’s insistence, I didn’t start planning the party until a month before.

Invitations were hand-made (what was I thinking?!) and were not without injury. While gluing google eyes, I dropped an eye, hot-glue side down, on my finger. Thankfully the kids were sleeping and didn’t witness my hand shaking- F word-saying-finger sizzling dance around the kitchen. I must say, they turned out rather adorable, despite my wound.

The magic is in the details…both big and small.

Big Detail (Exhibit A): Monster faces covered doors in our home.

Small Detail (Exhibit B): I made use of my circle-punches (purchased for a previous party) and made a slew of monster cut-outs to use on multiple party details.

The monster cut outs were used to make monster straws, cupcake toppers, as well as monster crayon packs for the gift bags.

Our gift bags have transformed over the years to accommodate multiple food allergies in little party-goers. Rather than tossing handfuls of candy into goodie bags, monster party favors included:

1. Monster notebooks- bought in bulk at the grocery store. Glued-on google eyes with sharpie-drawn monster-smiles.

2. Monster crayons- 96 pack of crayons and split into groups of 5 crayons. The crayons were secured with twine and a monster punch out.

3. Monster google eye rings

4. Monster tattoos (ordered online)

5. Monster poppers (ordered online)

6. Punching balloons (because they are so cool)

7. Individually wrapped licorice and FlavorPops (well, a generic version of them).

When Xander was born, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave us a “baby stats” sheet for his nursery. A high-school friend kindly offered to make a “first birthday stats sheet” for Xander’s birthday. We had them displayed on our mantle along with a hand-made birthday banner.

The dessert table may have been one of my favorites. I found the idea for the backdrop on Pinterest and two of my friends were kind enough to help me tackle the project. The desserts themselves included home-made monster cupcakes (who knew they made edible google eyes?!), marshmallows dipped in chocolate and sprinkles and an adorable dessert tray by Simply Sweet Chocolates. The arrangement matched our party colors perfectly and the kids argued over who would get the monster chocolate-covered cookies (Shhh… I snagged one. For “sampling purposes only” of course. It was ah-mazing.) The mini-tray consisted of 36 pieces of yummy chocolate-covered goodness including oreos, cookies, pretzels and my personal favorite, rice krispi treats. (Click on the link to Simply Sweet Chocolates for more information.)

Seriously. How adorable is this?

I took it easy on myself this year in regards to food. Aside from the cupcakes, this was the only thing I made. (I gave my husband two options. Either he could prepare the food for the party this year, or we could order pizza, pasta and salad for dinner. You can guess which he chose.)

Monster Punch (for adults only). Lemonade with Whipped Cream Vodka and a few drops of red food coloring to make it orange.

Did I say that the dessert table was my favorite? Well, I lied. It was tied for first with these little guys…. and the XANDER banner.

I made these little dudes using monster clip art found online and this tracer. I’ve used it for almost every birthday party and the projects always turn out adorable, if I do say so myself. As my husband would say, the monsters and “Xander” banner were a “Kate” original. Every time I create/bake/design/repair something, my husband asks “is that a Pinterest idea?” And a small fraction of the time I can proudly say, “nope. This was all me.” At which time he smiles and says “Ah yes. A Kate original.”

For weeks leading up to the party, I scoured stores and online shops for a monster T-shirt. I wanted something simple, cute (not scary), and inexpensive. But I had absolutely no luck.

Like always, Nana came to the rescue and made Xan-Man’s birthday T-shirt with a couple of buttons and puffy-paint. What can I say? Creativity runs through my veins from my momma. <3

This would be our home life if my husband would let me.

I don’t know what I am doing in this photo, but it made me laugh

Like any other All-American kid, he wasn’t interested in opening his presents, he just wanted the wrapping paper.

It’s hard to believe that this little dude has been in our lives for a year. Some days it seems like he was just born and that the days are rushing by me. Other days I can’t remember life before he came into our family.

Happy Birthday Alexander. You light up our lives with every toothy grin and we can not wait to see what the future has in store for our little monster man.